(Thanks, Kevin) I subscribed to Esquire early this year. It’s a helluva magazine and has the most consistently interesting articles of any magazine I’ve read. Just one problem: the editors have totally bought into that crazy notion that equates meat with masculinity. Nearly every issue seems to carry some glorification of meat, whereas coverage of vegetarianism is either absent or sneering.
But now Esquire’s just come out with a short piece by David Chang, a chef who works at a restaurant that has proudly, “made a name for ourselves selling lots of pig and not accommodating vegetarians.”
Chang rightfully points out that rising fuel and grain costs have kicked away the pillars that have long supported animal agriculture’s business model. Meat has suddenly become expensive and Chang doesn’t expect it to go back to being cheap. So, what’s a vegetarian-hating restaurant to do when its meat costs go through the roof? Accommodate reality — as ungraciously as possible. Says Chang:
So, yeah, I recognize the hypocrisy of me–Captain Fucking Pork Bun–telling you to eat more veggies and less meat. Guilty as charged. But don’t get me wrong: My restaurants still won’t kowtow to vegetarians. We will, however, focus more on vegetable and grain dishes in which meat adds flavor, not heft.
Some of Chang’s customers, as their meals get ever-lighter on meat, will doubtless drift towards vegetarian eating. So, I’d suggest Captain Fucking Pork Bun starts working on a few vegan options for the meals some of his current customers will no doubt one day demand. Link.
